Happy Halloween everyone! We had a festive Halloween party today in the Great Hall, complete with a costume contest, scary delicious treats, and a candy corn toss game. Guess who won first place?  Answer below….

Our lovely Siciliana, Liliana Cardile, won first place for best costume as Spooky Mona Lisa. Brava!
Veronica Alvarez won 2nd place as a Vampire Mistress.
Greg Rodolari won 3rd as a dark and mysterious Boogie Man.
Kevin Flores won the Candy Corn toss game.

It was a nice break from the routine, and as Liliana said in her last post Semel in anno…Happy Halloween I-House! …”the ability to make fun of ourselves sometimes defines us as better people and can create a lighter and more festive working environment.”

Later that afternoon, residents in costume did some Trick or Treating around I-House offices.

On Halloween night,  Susan Giesecke and Celeste Lane (from Engineering) took a bus load of I-House engineering students from Singapore out “trick or treating” Friday night for their first time. They all had a great time as you can see in the photo below.

I couldn’t write about Halloween with mentioning the creativity of I-House residents. Here are a few favorite memories over the past few years:

Jack O’Lanterns carved by residents in 2012.  Can you spot the bear in the clouds behind I-House?

Sugar skulls decorated by residents for the Dia De Los Muertos altar in the Great Hall

Planning a Thriller dance? I highly recommend it!  Ernesto Tejeda & Friends performed it at a Sunday Supper in 2009. Check out the video:

Ernesto Tejeda & friends – Thriller Performance (Live @ Sunday Supper Ihouse)

Ernesto also has some great costume ideas, courtesy of Berkeley Hat Company in his interview with Lady Gaga in 2010:

Lady Gaga interview @ IHouse Berkeley by Ernesto Tejeda-Yeomans

Staff members organized a costume party during a coffee break with delicious yet spooky potluck treats. Maya’s Goulish Eyeballs won first place, but Ryan’s Witch’s fingers were a strong contender. My orange and black Jello Jigglers simply could not compete! Many of the staff dressed in costume. Below are a few highlights of Halloween 2012.

I-House Staff at the 2012 Halloween party

Development & Alumni Relations team with Spock, who crashed our party that year.